518 chapter 55
3. CENTRE FOR THE REHABILITATION OF
THE PARALYSED (CRP)—BANGLADESH
Located in the capital Dhaka, CRP is run
by a local team, with the help of a British
physiotherapist. Four of the staff members have
spinal injuries themselves.
The CRP provides short- and long-term
‘participatory rehabilitation’ to severely paralyzed
persons. Almost from the day of arrival, newly
paralyzed persons begin to do jobs to help the
Centre bring in some income. Those who must
lie on stretcher trolleys (wheeled cots) work on
jobs ranging from making paper bags to be sold
in the local marketplace, to welding and painting
of orthopedic equipment. The group produces
orthopedic and hospital equipment, not only
for those it serves directly, but also for sale in
hospitals and in the community.
Badd, who is quadriplegic, pedals a CRP‑made
‘exercycle’while Delwar, paralyzed by
tuberculosis of the spine, practices walking.
Madhab, who is quadriplegic and who has been
employed as the Centre’s counselor since 1980,
paints by means of a simple hand splint. Disabled
workers print his paintings as greeting cards and sell
them to bring in money. Madhab is responsible for
the education program. He supervises those who read
and write, who teach classes to those who do not.
Although CRP is much loved by disabled
persons and their families, it has suffered attacks
—sometimes physical—from opposition groups.
(Many successful community-directed programs
have faced similar diffculties—partly because
they provide friendly, flexible, effective care that
differs so much from the services provided by
many large institutions.)
The Centre for the Rehabilitation of the
Paralysed is financed mainly from outside grants
and partly from the sale of its products.
For more information on this center and its
equipment, see p. 199, 483, and 509.
CRP teaches practical skills through ‘learning
by doing’. The work that participants do not only
brings in money for the program, but also teaches
them ways to earn money after they return home.
Skills learned are mostly those that will let persons
have their own small home business—a roadside
stand, sewing and tailoring, weaving, welding, and
metalwork.
CRP has developed a wide range of low-cost
orthopedic and rehabilitation equipment adapted
to the needs and lifestyle of local villagers.
Examples are ground level wheelchairs, or
‘trolleys’, for those who cook and eat on the floor
(see p. 590), and simple metal frame beds that
can be easily lowered to near ground level for
easy transfer into the low trolleys (see p. 572).
A worker in the CRP-made wheelchair makes a
bedside stand to be sold to a local hospital.
Disabled village Children